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BPF NEC puzzled by Reatile's UDC decision

Mephato Reatile PIC: MORERI SEJAKGOMO
Mephato Reatile PIC: MORERI SEJAKGOMO

President of the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF), Mephato Reatile, has revealed that he has decided to end the party’s affiliation with the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), a decision that has not gone down well with some of the party's National Executive Committee (NEC) members.

Speaking at a press briefing on Sunday, he said the BPF will be using its own symbol in the 2024 General Election. Reatile said he was using BPF constitution clause article 20.6.4, which gives him the power to take certain decisions in the interest of the party during emergency times.

“Some BPF members were threatening to leave the party while others wanted to contest as independent candidates since UDC affiliates were not cooperative with them especially for wards allocation where the agreed ratio of 60 to 40% was not used,” he explained. “As the president, I was forced to act so that the party does not collapse.” Reatile further revealed that the constitution gives him the powers pending the review of the congress, which he failed to specify whether it would be held with five months left before the general election. On other issues, the BPF president said in some areas where UDC and BPF do not agree, both parties will contest against each other as it happened in the 2019 General Election. He said the PACT model happened before and, therefore, he believes it is suitable even now as it would help to operate freely.

Editor's Comment
Commitment by DPP to fight corruption welcome

Whilst many citizens put trust in their leaders that they are tackling one of the worst curses that can befall a country, the public has lost trust after all the cases seemed not to go anywhere.As the saying goes, ‘corruption is a cancer that eats away at the fabric of society’; corruption affects effective governance.Corruption affects delivery of services to the public and also crumbles most systems meant to assist citizens who are very...

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